Dervla Kirwan
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Dervla Kirwan (born 24 October 1971) is an Irish actress famous for roles in television shows such as Ballykissangel and Goodnight Sweetheart.
Kirwan was born in Churchtown, Dublin, Republic of Ireland. Her father was an insurance broker and her mother was a French and Latin teacher.
She got her big acting break in the 1991 production A Time To Dance. Whilst filming Ballykissangel she became engaged to co-star Stephen Tompkinson, but they later split.
She also sang with Dustin the Turkey on his cover of Fairytale of New York for his album Faith of Our Feathers.
Kirwan starred in School for Seduction, a 2004 film. She also starred in BBC 1 crime drama series 55 Degrees North which aired in 2004. She returned for a second series in 2005. It is unknown if a third series will be made. The series was shown in the U.S. under the title "The Night Detective".
[edit] M&S Voice over
From September 2005, Dervla provided the voice-over for TV adverts for Marks & Spencer food, with the tag line: This is not just food, this is M&S food. The advert has been parodied by Radio 4, BBC local radio and CBeebies. The original adverts were created by Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe Y & R of London. The adverts have been a massive success, and have created record profits for Marks & Spencer, kick-starting their recovery.
[edit] Personal life
Once engaged to Ballykissangel co-star Stephen Tompkinson, Kirwan is engaged to actor Rupert Penry-Jones, with whom she has a daughter Florence, and a son Peter. She and Penry-Jones both appeared in Casanova in 2005, although they did not share any scenes.
